The NBA’s free agency period officially begins at 6 p.m. ET on Sunday and it will be an all-hands-on-deck operation to land the marquee players in this year’s class. To help the Los Angeles Lakers convince Kawhi Leonard to join forces with LeBron James and Anthony Davis, a couple of artists in Los Angeles pitched in by painting a mural of Leonard rocking Lakers gear in a trendy section of Venice Beach.
To assist with the recruiting efforts for the reigning NBA Finals MVP, Gustavo Zermeno Jr. and another artist collaborated on the new Kawhi mural that features Leonard hoisting up the Larry O’Brien trophy after winning an NBA title with the Lakers. The image is set on a black backdrop with The Claw wearing a gold Lakers jersey. The mural also includes a headline above the illustration that reads “Kawhi Not?” in white and purple.
Zermeno had also created a number of other murals in Los Angeles including one of LeBron James when he first joined the Lakers. This latest mural went viral on social media on Saturday while catching the attention of LeBron who liked the photo on Instagram.
Along with Davis, LeBron is expected to be a part of the Lakers pitch meeting with Kawhi later this week. During that meeting, James will reportedly tell Leonard that he’s willing to take more of a complementary role than ever before in order to tailor his game to best fit the skills of Kawhi and AD. Leonard is also expected to meet with the Los Angeles Clippers as well as the reigning NBA champion Toronto Raptors during the free agency period.
